Preview: Blues at Avalanche

BLUES (38-28-5) at AVALANCHE (20-48-3)
9 p.m. ET; ALT, FS-MW, NHL.TV

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Blues team scope

The St. Louis Blues are 7-1-0 in their past eight games, including 5-1-0 on the road, following a five-game losing streak they ended with a 3-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche on March 5. The Blues, 14-7-0 since Mike Yeo was named coach Feb. 1, hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. They are six points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings and two points behind the Nashville Predators for third place in the Central Division. "The energy in here and the attitude has changed a little bit since the coaching change," center Paul Stastny said. "We had a rough patch for a little bit, but we've found what makes us successful. We've had production from everyone, and our goaltending has been unbelievable. It starts right there. I guess we're playing our best right now and we want to continue that going into the end of the season." Goaltender Jake Allen will start; he's 5-1-0 with seven goals allowed and two shutouts in his past six starts. Allen made 31 saves in a 3-0 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday. "We weren't real thrilled with the way we played that game," Yeo said, "so we're looking for a stronger performance tonight."

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Avalanche team scope

The Colorado Avalanche open a two-game homestand, having gone 3-1-0 in their past four games at Pepsi Center. Ten of their remaining 11 games are against teams that have secured or are competing for a place in the playoffs. "It doesn't hurt our team, that's for sure, to be playing hungry teams," coach Jared Bednar said. "Every game's a challenge for us and we need to find ways to work through them and secure some points and see some growth in our team. We're working towards something, and it's not necessarily just this season. We've got some young guys in the lineup that have come up and done a real nice job for us. It's growth for them and it's trying to find some chemistry with some of the guys that we know are coming back." Goaltender Calvin Pickard will start for the seventh time in eight games. He made 18 saves in a 5-1 loss at the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. Colorado is 2-for-41 on the power play in its past 17 games.

Blues projected lineup

Jaden Schwartz -- Paul Stastny -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Alexander Steen -- Patrik Berglund -- David Perron
Zach Sanford -- Ivan Barbashev -- Magnus Paajarvi
Scottie Upshall -- Kyle Brodziak -- Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester -- Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson -- Colton Parayko
Carl Gunnarsson -- Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Scratched:Jordan Schmaltz, Nail Yakupov
Injured:Robby Fabbri (knee), Dmitrij Jaskin (upper body), Jori Lehtera (upper body)

Avalanche projected lineup

Sven Andrighetto -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog -- Matt Duchene -- Matt Nieto
Mikhail Grigorenko -- J.T. Compher -- Rene Bourque
John Mitchell -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
Mark Barberio -- Erik Johnson
Fedor Tyutin -- Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin -- Anton Lindholm
Calvin Pickard
Jeremy Smith
Scratched:Joe Colborne, Cody Goloubef, Patrick Wiercioch
Injured:Semyon Varlamov (hip surgery), Nikita Zadorov (broken ankle)

Status report

Jaskin has resumed skating, but he'll miss his fourth consecutive game. There's no timetable for his return.

Who's hot

Tarasenko has seven points (six goals, one assist) in his past seven games. Pietrangelo has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past 11 games.